In Moses' last speech, he warns the
Israelites of several things and one of the things that he
explicitly warns them about is:
"The land God gives you is a
land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land
where iron is as common as stone, and copper abundant in the hills.
When you have eaten your fill, praise the Lord your God for the
good land He has given you. But that is the time to be careful!
Beware that in you plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and
disobey His commands, regulations, and laws." Deuteronomy
8:9-11
Moses warned them to still follow
God, even when things go well. It is such an interesting human
characteristic that seem to jump out when things go too well. There
are several examples in the Bible. For one, the Israelites didn't
listen to Moses. The moment they settled and enjoyed their
wonderful land, they started to back slide and soon enough they
were worshipping the idols of the pagan nations around them.
Another example is when David was firmly settled as king over the
nation with a strong military and sound economy, that he didn't
listen to God and committed adultery and murder. At the height of
his rule, he experienced the low in his spiritual life. And let's
not forget Solomon. Solomon literally had it all, wisdom, wealth,
peace, servants, women etc. But he fell to a spiritual low, because
he loved his wives too much and allowed them and the nation to
worship their different gods, resulting in God tearing the kingdom
in half after Solomon's death.
And today it is no different. It is
clear to see that it is difficult for people to stay humble and
focused on God when they can have anything they want. It is
difficult to trust God for anything when you can just buy it
yourself. It is difficult to trust God for your health, when you
are surrounded by the best medical expertise. It is difficult to
trust God for advancement in your career, when everything just
falls in your lap. It is difficult to consult God about anything,
when you are blessed with wisdom and superior intellect. It is
difficult.
But we need to learn from the
mistakes of the Israelites and realise that ALL we have are from
God. Sure we work hard, but He gives us the ability to do just
that. He is the One in charge over our lives and we should give all
glory to Him. At the height of our prosperity we should humble
ourselves before Him and give Him all our praise. We should live
with gratitude in our hearts and never ever become proud. We should
spend time with Him and seek His face in all we do. Our careers,
our lives, our health, our dreams are all in His hands and it is a
safe place to be.
Thank you Lord for looking after
us. Thank you that we can know that our paycheque doesn't come from
our employer, but from You. Thank you for Your blessings. We live
in gratitude for all You are doing in our lives. We praise You.
Amen